Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Characters, nor do I make any profit from this, other than personal entertainment :)

Landmines

Rin groaned as she stood in front of her tiny mirror with a very important dilemma in her hands. She bent her elbow and placed a dark blue blouse in front of her, it's loose fabric had a silk-like shine was discrete enough to go unnoticed, but fashionable enough that it could be considered an evening-night-out outfit.

She took a second glance at her black super skinny jeans and pondered for the 5th time if they were decent enough for the occasion; she had already ruled out skirts to keep a flexible outfit, since she didn't know yet the exact requirements of this particular mission. She scrunched her nose a bit at her reflexion. And what was casual supposed to mean?.

She extended the blouse away from her body and placed the other hanger in front of her; this one had a light grey, short-sleeved shirt with a low back and a fitted waist which extended just over her belt. She tried it on, looked at herself in the mirror and immediately ruled it out. She was dressing as though this were a date, and she kept reminding herself it was most definitely not that, nevertheless, the small mountain in her bed seemed to indicate otherwise.

The major had not given her many directions and even though they had meet twice for training since the day he asked (ordered) her to go with him who-knew-where he hadn't said another word on the matter. She, on the other hand, had had to make yet another long string of excuses to explain to both Shippo and Kohaku why she didn't think she would be very much in the mood to attend to a Christmas dinner party, even though she was away from home and by all accounts she had nothing better to do with her night. She couldn't even remember what she had said, but apparently, it was a decent enough lie that they had reluctantly left her alone. That, and she had agreed to consider it.

She turned her attention to her almost empty closet, stroking the too-colorful fabrics on her wardrobe. It wouldn't do to call too much attention. Blue it is then. Before she could take the shirt off, she heard a knock on her door and distracted as she was, she went to open it without thinking. She later had to admit her reaction was a little childish, as her first instinct was to close it back when she came face to face with the major. With his quick reflexes, however, she only managed to slam the door against his foot before he opened the door further to let himself in.

He, of course, looked like a model in his very casual black fitted pants (with designer's belt), combat boots and grey Henley. He even had a black leather jacket slung over his shoulder. She couldn't help but be envious of his laid-back and collected air, but it was soon forgotten as she realized (rather horrified) they actually matched.

He ignored her dropped jaw as he walked further into the room, all the while eyeing suspiciously the assortment of clothes over her bed. He decided to sit of the (for once vacant) chair in her room.

"I thought I tould you I would come at 22:00. Right now is 22:05".

"I'm a girl"- she explained, like it was all the answer he needed. Once again checking her appearance in the mirror in front of her, then, she pulled her hair up debating on whether or not she should wear it down for the evening and almost smiled satisfied as his eyes traveled over the expanse of her exposed back. Up it was.

It wasn't a date, but that didn't mean she couldn't look accordingly.

-.-

Kohaku tightened a red tie over his neck and smoothed the invisible wrinkles in his already perfect white button-down shirt. He checked the clock for the third time that evening. Deciding it was probably best to get himself a drink before the trembling in his hands got even worse than it already was. Yes- he nodded to himself- a drink is what he needed.

He attempted to smooth the hairs sticking out from his tightly pressed bun over his head, before he realized his skittish antics were beginning to win him a few side glances from his fellow squad members. He smiled weakly at the group gathered nearest to him and just as quickly, the conversation resumed as they pointedly ignored him.

He knew all this contempt was the result of his continued support to both Rin and Shippo, as they were seen as the weakest members of the squad. Shippo was just careless, that he knew, but he was also a demon, and however lower class, he still had a long time ahead of him to show his full potential. This, he knew for a fact from his (however short) training in the family tradition of demon slaying.

Rin, he didn't really understand. But did he ever want to. He had accompanied her to the tryouts, had seen the cold skeptical faces of the examinators when she came in the room, had witnessed beforehand the verbal (and sometimes physical) abuse of his so called comrades against her and still, she pushed herself harder and harder to be better. At first, he had been tempted to dissuade her, to convince her to go back to the safety and comfort of her home. He hadn't honestly believed she could improve and he had wanted to spare her the suffering so bad.

Then, something had changed. In the space of two months (although he wouldn't analize if it had been more, this is when he noticed) she had gone to being the laugh of camp, to the unwilling victim to… well, he didn't even know what she was now, but she didn't seem so much of an easy target anymore. He didn't quite know what she had done, but she had proved him wrong. He knew the others didn't see it, but there was definitely a different cadence to her step.

He resisted the urge to lift his eyes to the door as yet another group of soldiers entered the room. He knew he wouldn't find anyone of interest in those groups. The person he wanted to be here was most likely to come alone (if she ever came, at all) He considered paying her a visit, trying to convince her to come with him again. His eyebrows frowned at that and he extended his hand to pour whiskey on a glass. The ice proved a little more difficult grab with the tongs and after the 2nd failed attempt he decided he no longer wanted any ice, didn't people drink straight whiskey all the time? Surely it couldn't be that bad, he though as he brought the drink to his lips. He almost spit it back out as the nasty burn of the liquid came in contact with his tongue. He suppressed a grimace and coughed subtly as the fire descended through the length of his throat. Cheap whiskey then, not that he had ever been an expert, but he was sure no drink was intentionally made to taste that bad. Thinking it better, he reached his hand to take of a few cubes of ice from the bucket on the table and turned his back on it, only to run straight into someone.

He felt the cold drench through his shirt before he actually registered the fact that he had spilled his drink over himself. He lowered his eyes slowly, but to his surprise (and dread) it was not his drink but rather the punch once belonging to the stranger's glass what had coated the front of his white shirt in dark pink substance. He dared even assume there was some type of fruit in it if the small chunks where anything to go by. He slowly brought his eyes up fallowing the curve of the person's arm from their empty glass to the tweed beige jacket to the slicked back moth of orange hair.

-"Shippo?"- he asked incredulous as his friend scratched the back of his stiff-looking hair with his empty hand.

- "hi Kohaku! Ugh, I'm sorry about your shirt, I was only coming over to say hi and I didn't expect you to turn so suddenly"- he explained hurriedly as he let out a nervous squeal at Kohaku's neutral (yet disbelieving) expression

- "I…"- kohaku's shoulders slumped, finally able to relax after a good gulp of his drink- "It's ok, It's still early, so I can go change"- problem was he didn't want to he'd bought that especially for that night and now it was ruined. Regardless, the apologetic look in Shippo's face was enough to forgive him. It seemed like he didn't really have a choice but to come back. The thought of missing Rin's arrival didn't somehow range very high compared to the humiliation he would suffer if she were to see him like this. Not that she would care, but he would.

- "can I come with you?"- Shippo blurted out, before he lowered his gaze in embarrassment- "I.. I don't know many people here"- he explained. Kohaku didn't have to be a genius to understand the plea in Shippo's tone and even though he would much rather go on his own, he understood the other boys's worries as he too passed his hands over his hair in a compulsive fashion, much like he had been doing only minutes before.

- "Ok, but let's be quick"- they exited the doors just as the music started.

-.-

She noticed he was awfully quiet for someone who hated waiting. He was looking at her and her hands stopped mi-air as their eyes locked through the mirror's reflection. The way passed a languid look at her was patient and openly shameless, he looked at her in that way of his that always seemed to know more about everything than was fair for any living creature. Her eyes caught in the motion and roamed all the refined features in his face deciding that he was also more handsome than any man or demon had any right to be. All fresh air coming in through the window didn't seem to reach her lungs, but a lock of dark hair fell from her grip she blinked rapidly as the contact was broken. She breathed shakily and decided now would be a good time to put on her shoes. As soon as she bent to pick the black plums she had planned on wearing his hand closed around her wrist, stopping her effectively.

"Wear comfortable footwear"- was all he said. She let out the breath that had somehow gotten stuck in her throat and settled for boots. Almost half an hour later (he was suspiciously adamant that she didn't wear makeup) they were walking down the dark corridors leading to the dinner party. As they neared the celebration he made a right turn and she knew he had never intended for them actually attend the party. Part of her felt a little disappointed that things had in fact turned out exactly as she had predicted them.

"Where are we going?"- she inquired as he led them close enough to the building to hide in its shadows.

"Follow my lead"- he whispered, before they plunged into the dark night.

-.-

Shippo stopped under one of the lights in the long corridors leading up to their dorms.

-"what's wrong?"- he furrowed his eyebrows, not sure what he was smelling, but decided he would probably be better off not knowing. He shook his head

- "no, nothing. Do you think Rin will come to the party?"-

- "I don't know"- responded Kohaku hesitantly- "they both turned their gaze to the dark, in the direction of the female dorms"- Maybe we can visit later- "he added more quietly

- "uh…yeah, sure"- he could have sworn he had smelled something like strawberries somewhere nearby.

-.-

"What if someone sees us? You know damn well I can't climb worth a stick!"- she whispered furiously. He turned his head sideways and looked her down the shoulder like the mere idea was ridiculous to begin with. She hated his patronizing looks. They all seemed to say 'you're such a girl' although in his mind it would probably sound more along the lines of 'you ignorant human child'

She didn't know exactly why they needed to jump over the fences of the camp, but he seemed convinced that was the most effective way of going about things. Hell, she didn't know why he needed her. She was sure he was capable of doing all the secret agent routine on his own and he made her dress up! (well, he actually hadn't, but still)

"Give me your hand"- he said, already setting his eyes away from him to look at something on the other side of the fences. She realized then he had only been half-paying attention to her, he'd never turned completely to face her anyways. She resisted the urge to ask why and just did as he asked. He would get his way, anyways.

As soon as her hand landed on his, he pulled her against him and the next second, her feet left the ground and her stomach dropped violently as he jumped them both over the fences. She should have seen it coming, but that didn't stop the undignified squeak from leaving her mouth or the rather embarrassing clinging to him even after he set her safely on the ground again. She just couldn't help it. He cast her a sideways glance and her already frantic heartbeat seemed to skip a few beats.

" Let go"- he said and she suddenly realized she had been digging her nails into the top of his arms for the past minute. of course he would be tactful about it, he could have spared her the humiliation

"A word of warning would have been nice, major"- She responded, swiftly taking her hands away from him.

He turned his back on her and kept walking like nothing had happened, but she did see the corners of his mouth rising in amusement. She let out a huff of annoyance, but decided not to push her luck, god only knew what the major would do if she so much as insinuated he was having fun.

-.-

Kohaku fumbled around his closet for a decent shirt to wear, already knowing none of them would be as good as the one he needed to change. On the way to the dorms, Shippo had offered to pay for drycleaning or attempt to magic it clean, but if he knew anything about untrained magic creatures, it was that they usually did more damage than the alternative, so he politely declined.

Shippo was fretting and moving around the room like a caged animal which, he thought humorously, wasn't too far from the truth. He was getting impatient. To be fair, he was getting impatient too, so he took the next-best-thing he had on his closet (his favorite green shirt) and quickly changed. He didn't like how casual he looked, but it would have to do.

-.-

She walked quickly behind him, careful not to miss his steps as he casually mentioned that part of the woods was infested in landmines. Well she didn't feel like missing one or two limbs, thank you very much. Not for the first time, she wondered how on earth someone had ever managed to harm Sesshoumaru Sato. She could barely see where she was going in the dark and had to rely on both her arms to keep the low foliage away from her face, not to mention the five times she had tripped and almost fell, if it wasn't for the major catching her. One of those times, she had reached out for some form of support and had ended up wrapping her arms around his waist; he had had the grace not to comment on it (even when she tripped again while trying to get some of her dignity back). He on the other hand, was nothing if not graceful and agile in a way that was almost feral. He looked as comfortable walking in the woods as he had when he had drank tea. She tried to memorize the way they had taken, but upon several turns she realized she would be completely lost if she didn't know for certain the major was a walking compass.

"Where are we going?"- she repeated, after half an hour of walking in complete and utter silence. She didn't particularly know when that became routine, but if she was going through with this, she figure she might as well try to get him to reveal something about what they were doing walking in the middle of the woods at night and away from other people. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he was trying to get her alone to assault her. She snorted Now that was rich! If he wanted he could hav-

"we're here"- he announced, stopping so suddenly she almost crashed into his back. She recovered quickly and narrowed her eyes in an attempt to decipher the shadows and textures around her. A careful inspection of her surroundings told her what she had suspected all along; trying to find something special about 'here' was pointless.

The place where they stood looked completely unremarkable. There was absolutely nothing particularly outstanding about that spot in the woods (if that was what he wanted her to see). She might as well have been in any area of the vast green expanses around camp and it would have looked the same for her. She suppressed the need to sigh, already dreading the question that was about to follow.

"I'm sorry major, you've lost me" not that you ever let me in on what we're here for, or anything..- she added silently. He gave her one of those looks. The ones that seemed to look like his regular aloof self, but had a distinct amount of superiority that she just knew he thought he was so much above her – "well?"

"and here I thought out of all humans, you would be the most likely one to at least feel more than your eyes can tell" she didn't dwell too much on the backhanded compliment he had just given her as the actual meaning of his phrase drowned on her, she could feel the veins around her eye threatening to explode.

"what is that supposed to mean?"- she snapped. His non-bothered attitude gave her pause.

He inclined his face slightly indicating her to walk forward. The place he indicated was an empty space surrounded by five threes equidistant to each other. It was, for lack of a better word, a clearing, although It was really only bigger than a small tent. As she studied it more closely, she realized it was rather round blank space in the forest ground where no grass grew; so round in fact, that it was unnatural, almost like someone had had lit a giant bonfire in the middle of nowhere, and then had taken away all the ashes or, she mused like someone had a nasty encounter with a mine. She gave him a side-glance and advanced into the patch or earth. She walked no further than two steps when she felt a distinct… warmth wash over her.

She had a sudden flash of a memory, older than herself, probably when she was still in the womb of her mother. She felt safe, loved and infinitely glad. She embraced the feeling and let it consume her until she felt lightheaded from the utter joy of… she didn't quite know what, but the sensations igniting every single one of her nerve endings was pure and wonderful in ways she could not even begin to put into words. Something tickled her cheek, sweping past her chin and she vaguely realized she was crying.

- "what is this place?"- her voice trembled and broke over the barely whispered words. She didn't know if she expected an answer, in fact, She couldn't even remember they had come out of camp, but she was glad they had. So, so glad…

He didn't answer, not so much because he didn't want to answer, but because he couldn't. Something in him didn't feel comfortable with the site before him, but at the same time, he found it oddly entrancing. Like falling victim to the chant of a muse, he stood helpless as his hand rose in a silent need to reach, to wipe away the tears that so overwhelmed her. He had seen her cry once before, but this time was distinctly different, he could feel her soul as clear as if it were his own. She needed comfort. His hand met the edges of the barrier and met resistance, the smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils and the spell was broken.

"Major?"-

"This…"- He blinked slowly and the fog in his mind suddenly cleared. He couldn't pass the spiritual barrier and there was nothing there worth the immeasurable pain that would afford him. Not in his state- this is all I needed to see- he said finished at last. He then averted his eyes from hers.

Rin furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as Sesshoumaru turned on his heels and gave her his back, seeming detached but in fact struggling to assemble his thoughts as he waited for her to fallow. When she didn't move, he started walking away.

"don't"- he cut sharply as she reached out to grab his arm. She should have listened.

As soon as her hand came in contact with his, the circle lit up as if by magic, turning all the shapeless shadows to a strange blue-white hue that blinded her violently. Suddenly the warmth she had been feeling became uncomfortable, and her body begun to spasm with shocks that traveled from the tip of her feet to the roots of her hair. Her heart tumbled frenzied and unbound in her chest as the air became heavy with static. For a wild moment, she thought she could see herself falling to her knees. But that couldn't be right, as she was certain wherever down was, her feet were firmly planted on it.

The confusion didn't last long; soon enough all she could think of was how much It hurt. Everything hurt. She felt her hair stand on ends and her whole body become still as the light burned her from the inside out.

In the distance, she thought she heard a voice, words slamming into her consciousness without ever making out a coherent meaning, something about the circle she thought. The words sounded familiar but she couldn't focus enough to understand them. Her hand tightened around something and the burning sensation intensified. She wasn't sure she'd ever felt in so much pain in her life, and in her desperation, she forgot to breath.

Something crashed against her middle, she flew in the air for a short eternity and something familiar and comforting enveloped her and she thought it might have been a scent, but as she reached in her memories for a trace of recognition, everything went black.

-.-

She woke up the next day feeling disoriented and with a very pounding headache to go with her generally blind state. She was back in her room; still dressed in the clothes from the night before and there, by her clock lay her keys. She groaned in embarrassment trying to recall the last events of the night and darted closer to the nightstand where she confirmed indeed it was not yet early enough to be up. By her standards, weekends were NOT early days It wasn't even 9! What was wrong with him?

she went to the door and sure enough, it was him knocking on it. didn't he know the meaning of private space? Time off?

-"major, lovely to see you at this fine hour of the morning"- she greeted sarcastically. It was proof of how used he was to that kind of welcome he no longer felt the need to remind her he was her superior.

- "I need you to get dressed, you're going to run an errand for me"- she really could have kicked him right then and there, but she knew arguing with him was useless; she could always vent her frustrations on their training sessions.

- "well, in that case, I'll need to have some space"- she swung the door open before he could even stop her and there before them stood Shippo and Kohaku. She stood paralyzed, trying unsuccessfully to come up with any excuse as to why there was an officer in her room at that time of the morning, behind closed doors. Her life was over.

-"for your sake, I hope I've made myself clear miss Susuki. Next time, I won't be so lenient"- huh? She looked at her squad mates and was confronted with terrified looks; there was no curiosity or even skepticism in them, just pure terror. She was quick to catch up.

-"yes sir"- she lowered her head in respect-It won't happen again. What wouldn't happen again, she wasn't sure

-"1000 private"- was he crazy? Why would he say…?

-"yes… sir"- she finished, swallowing the bitter words like they were pure vomit.

Then he turned to the other two

"I believe rules about visiting areas are still in place"- he threatened. She nearly slapped her forehead at his hypocrisy. Of course it was forbidden to enter the female dorms, but didn't he realize he was there as well?- "don't push your luck"- was that his way of saying he didn't want them in her room?. The gall of him.

After he left and the goosebumps died down she turned to her friends.

"Guys! What are you doing here?"- she asked a little nervously, still not believing they would buy the act. Shippo was the first to talk

"We were worried about you! What happened?"

"What? what do you mean?"

"We waited for you at the party and you never showed up, so we came here to see if everything was ok and we saw…"- he went very red all of a sudden- "I mean…"

What?- she had a bad feeling about whatever Shippo said they saw

"We saw major Sato carrying you over his shoulder. You looked pretty bad too"-

"Did he…"- did she really want to know? Hmm probably…- "did he say anything?"

"He said he found you passed out in a sidewalk. I think you might have interrupted something too, he was dressed like he had plans for the night"-

"On a sidewalk?"- unbelievable. He could have come up with something better. She had never been drunk in her entire life!

"Are you ok Rin? Don't you remember any of this? We couldn't stay long, but… well, you heard him"-

"I… I must have had a little more to drink than I thought"- she got out through her teeth. She was going to kill him. He had done that on purpose, she knew.

"Well, we'll leave you then, you should not make the major wait for you"- said Kohaku, already pulling Shippo down the hall with him- "we'll see you later Rin! Try not to get any other superior against you!"

It was baffling really how things always turned out in his favor. No way could she have ever got anyone to believe all that crap.

By the time night came, she was all geared up; she had been delivering packages all morning and then in the afternoon she had to sit through a horribly boring tactical training session for the major. She wasn't happy, so when she swung open the doors to the training room, she was made fire. That night the clank of swords was heard all through the west wing, quiet was not their latest motto.

-.-

The morning came with a lot of noises and undecipherable words mingling together with the now-familiar sound of her alarm clock on her nightstand.

She remembered she had been woken up and rubbed her eyes to clear them. If she were any other soldier (or private) in the camp, she couldn't have given it much importance. There was always a chance of there being too much noise when it came to shared facilities. This was not the case however, because 1. She was in the female dorms, where only a handful of women actually lived and 2. She didn't share a dorm with anyone. So what the hell was all that noise?

She swung her legs to the side of the mattress and reached for the closest sweatpants (a grey one with pink dots) she had left on the floor the day before. Her groggy self barely had slept 5 hours from all the intense training she'd had the night before with the major. She was finally starting to keep up with his endless…stamina and while he could still kick her ass without moving more than one hand (literally, she still couldn't get used to that) he seemed to have to resort more and more to new tactics to keep her from succeeding. It wasn't a victory, but it was better than nothing. And she was rather proud of herself.

She reached for a the missing sock on her left foot and put it on while taking her towel from the rack for her routine morning shower, deciding no matter what the others were up to in the female dorms, she still had to start her day as usual. She didn't care much for drama (and army drama was the worst)

She regretted it as soon as she opened the door to her room. Standing in front of her door were at least 20 soldiers and privates, some in uniforms, others in a variation of jogging clothing or sweatpants and t-shirts (army trend for sleeping attire was rather monotone) and they all turned to look at her as soon as her door creaked open.

Her initial shock died in a matter of seconds to be replaced by a sinking feeling of dread. All the faces in front of her were rather stony or shallow, some of them cornered her with their gazes and some just stared openly but she noticed, none with contempt. There were no mocking remarks and no one even seemed to notice her socks didn't even match or the fact that there was still some droll on her face were her hair stuck to her upper lip like a mustache. There was in fact a very heavy silence that had fallen like a blanket were minutes before there had only been commotion. That moment she knew something was wrong.

-.-

Her two closest friends came to her a little later that morning, She could distinguish Shippo's shy knocking to Kohaku's polite taps on her door. It was all the same though, she didn't want to talk to anyone, she didn't want to see anyone and she didn't want to have anyone's pity. She covered her head with the covers and drowned the world along with its sounds.

Somehow she wondered why she never heard the strong, firm taping of someone else's hand.

-.-

He didn't know how to tell her what he needed to tell her, so instead he wrote her a letter. He had never had trouble being honest with anyone; they'd often told him he was rather ruthless that way as well, for the first time in his life he felt he needed to protect someone's feelings and he was acting like a disgusting coward. The realization hit him harder than the bomb that brought her into his life, more than he was willing to admit to himself. All this time, he had been merciless with her, he had trained her and he had taken away her only true motivation to stay in the army. He'd been selfish and he'd burned her letters to protect her. He'd wanted to keep her from harm's way. It was only ironic how everything had turned out, for he now held in his hand the one letter that could have made a difference. She would never forgive him.

He tightened his jaw and slipped the letter under her door.

She'd been expecting it. As soon as he turned his back on her door, she opened it, her eyes red from crying but alight with a rage he'd never seen in her. Had he been any other man, he would have retreated from her.

- what the hell do you think you're doing?- She asked him, deceptively calm, even though her shaking hands were giving her away. He didn't respond, he knew it was a lost cause, there was nothing he could say to appease her. When he didin't respond, she continued - you thought I'd never find out, didn't you?- She was shaking with rage and in his eyes, she never looked more frail than at that precise moment.

- It was for your own good

- FOR MY OWN GOOD?!- she was screaming now and something in his chest tightened at the sight of her tears, they were angry tears and he hated himself the moment he almost reached his hand to wipe them away- are you fucking serious?! How could you come up such ridiculous excuse? I thought you were supposed to be a master strategist- She shouted. He decided not to take her insult to heart even though he knew he deserved as much. She wanted to hit a nerve.

- keep your voice down private- He ordered, not wanting to bring more attention to them than necessary, even though he knew it was a risk coming to that part of camp.

- right! I have to keep my voice down, and I have to behave and it's ok for you to order me around because you're my superior, just like in your head it's ok to burn my letters and keep me from warning my father from imminent danger because I'm just that to you. A private.

- You would have only made things worse by sending him a warning

- How the hell would you know that?- She spat. Leaving out a humorless laugh, then se added in a whisper- You know what? it doesn't matter, none of it matters anymore

He had been right, she wouldn't forgive him for this.

She bent to pick up the letter he'd written for her and pushed it into his chest before slamming the door to his face. He could smell the heavy scent of her tears through the door, but didn't dare push her. She'd made her wishes clear and if he ignored her wishes it would only confirm her accusations. He retreated.

-.-

It's been forever, I know... I won't annoy you with excuses, thanks to everyone who has followed thus far, this is for you :)